Bloomberg TikTok faces a London lawsuit filed on behalf of millions of children in the UK and Europe over privacy concerns. The suit accuses the popular video app and its parent company ByteDance Ltd. of violating UK and European Union (EU) data protection laws. The suit seeks to stop TikTok from “illegally processing millions of childrens’ information” and demands any …

Bloomberg Microsoft Corp. and video-game chat company Discord Inc. have ended takeover talks after Discord rejected a $12 billion bid, according to people familiar with the matter. Discord is now focused on a potential public listing in the long term, the people said, asking not to be identified because the deliberations are private. Twitter Inc also expressed interest in buying …

Bloomberg Mitsubishi Motors Corp will cut production by as many as 16,000 cars globally next month due to the chip shortage, according to a company spokesperson, latest automaker to succumb to the malaise that’s gripped the world’s automobile industry. The Japanese automaker produced 90,745 units globally in January and 88,754 cars in February, according to its website, so that trim …

Bloomberg Oil falls amid concern that a resurgent virus will hurt demand in some economies, while industry data showed a slight build in US inventories. West Texas Intermediate retreated 1.1%, extending Tuesday’s decline. The renewed spread of Covid-19 in countries such as India is casting a pall over the global economic rebound, even as signs of an improvement in energy …

Bloomberg China says the United Nations and other international bodies should talk over Japan’s decision to dump wastewater from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the ocean, further ramping up its criticism of Tokyo’s plans. “Japan is obliged to hold a full consultation with all stakeholders, especially neighbouring countries,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said at a regular press briefing …

Bloomberg The European Union was poised to agree its first criteria for green investments on Wednesday, in a move that could set a benchmark for the world to follow. The stakes are high: the EU wants to raise up to 250 billion euros ($301 billion) using its first green bonds, and private funding is likely to follow into the approved …

Bloomberg Achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 is one of the greatest challenges of our time. But apparently not the greatest challenge. On current trends, the UK will have mostly given up fossil fuels before its North Sea oil and gas industry achieves gender parity, according to the sector’s trade body. “It will be well into the 2050s before the …

Bloomberg European stocks got a boost from upbeat corporate results that helped allay concern about the rising toll of the virus. The dollar extended a rebound. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index surged 0.7%, with energy and tech firms leading gains in almost every industry sector. S&P 500 contracts erased losses following a retreat in the US benchmark all week. Nasdaq …

Bloomberg Up four weeks and six of the last seven, US stocks are doing something they haven’t done since March: fall on consecutive days. For the first time in a long time, Wall Street pundits found themselves trying to explain a weak market. Covid-19 cases are surging around the world. Anxiety is swirling that new lockdowns could be afoot. Tension …

Bloomberg Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, the world’s biggest, returned 4%, or 382 billion kroner ($45.7 billion), in the first quarter after gains in its stock portfolio made up for bond losses. “The rise of the equity market was to a great extent driven by the finance and energy sector,” Deputy Chief Executive Officer Trond Grande said in a statement on …